President Trump gestures during his State of the Union address

Trump gestures as he delivers his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Jan. 30, as Vice President Mike Pence, left, and House Speaker Paul Ryan applaud. (Photo: Win McNamee/AP)

2018 State of the Union

In his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, President Trump called on Congress to pass legislation to stimulate at least $1.5 trillion in new infrastructure spending.

Trump offered no other details of the spending plan, such as how much federal money would go into it, but said it was time to address America’s “crumbling infrastructure.”

Rather than increase federal spending massively, Trump said: “Every federal dollar should be leveraged by partnering with state and local governments and, where appropriate, tapping into private-sector investment.”

The administration has already released an outline of a plan that would make it easier for states to build tollways and to privatize rest stops along interstate highways.

McKinsey & Company researchers say that $150 billion a year will be required between now and 2030, or about $1.8 trillion in total, to fix all the country’s infrastructure needs.

The American Society of Civil Engineers, a lobbying group with an interest in infrastructure spending, puts it at $2 trillion over 10 years.

Trump said any infrastructure bill needed to cut the regulation and approval process that he said delayed the building of bridges, highways and other infrastructure. He wants the approval process reduced to two years, “and perhaps even one.”

Cutting regulation is a top priority of business lobbying groups with a stake in building projects and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. (Reuters)